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Gallipoli and the Anzacs

Danger, hardship and loss at the Battle of the Landing

The roll call after battle was ‘always a most heart-breaking incident. Name after name would be called; the reply a deep silence’. Detail from painting, Roll Call. [Australian War Memorial ART02436]

At the landing on 25 April 1915, the 16th Battalion was about 1000 strong. Overnight on 2 May, they lost 8 officers and 330 men. At roll call on 3 May, only nine officers and 290 men answered their names. 16th Battalion signaller, and artist, Ellis Silas was evacuated on 17 May, later publishing extracts from the diary and sketchbook he kept during his time at Gallipoli which he called Crusading at Anzac A.D. 1915. The book provided a dramatic insight into the dangers, hardship and loss that accompanied the Anzac Corps' attempt to establish a foothold on the Gallipoli peninsula. He describes how '…all signallers have been wiped out of A and B Companies except myself... the continual cry of 'Signaller' never seems to cease.' Silas was the only participant in the Battle of the Landing to produce paintings from his personal experiences.

Telegraphed report sent by Ashmead-Bartlett to the Daily Telegraph in London. The thick blue lines demonstrate the military censorship. [State Library of NSW]

Censored telegrams and the first report

The first report of the Anzacs in action at Gallipoli published in Australia was written by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, a journalist with the British Daily Telegraph, saying 'These raw colonial troops, in these desperate hours, proved worthy to fight side by side with the heroes of the battles of Mons, the Aisne, Ypres, and Neuve-Chapelle.' It had a sensational impact in Australia, even though the original telegrams of his writings show heavy military censorship. As a journalist, his views on military censorship were very forthright: '…There are now at least four censors all of whom cut up your stuff… All hold different views and feel it their duty to take out scraps. Thus only a few dry crumbs are left for the wretched public.'

At The Nek, 600 Australians attacked, with 372 casualties. Detail from painting, George Lambert, Charge of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek, 7 August 1915, 1924. [Australian War Memorial 7965]

The August Offensive

Beginning on 6 August, the August Offensive was a major attempt by Allied forces at Gallipoli to break the stalemate that had persisted since the landings on 25 April 1915, attempting to seize high points along the Sari Bair range, Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The offensive began with a diversionary attack by Anzacs at Lone Pine, a British attack on The Vineyard at Helles and extensive British troop landings at Suvla Bay. The August Offensive failed as Turkish troops, led by Colonel Mustafa Kemal, defended and counter-attacked, driving the Allied troops from Chunuk Bair and holding steady against all the diversionary attacks. The battles fought by Australians and New Zealanders at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and The Nek are remembered for their ferocity and sacrifice. Within three days of fighting at Lone Pine, seven Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australian soldiers. Of 4,600 Australians in the Battle of Lone Pine, 2,277 men were killed or wounded.